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Ophira Eisenberg

You know when you talk to your friends about your childhood and end it by saying, "But look at us, we're fine!" Here's my question: Are we fine? Because we're sitting here doused in CBD oil under a weighted blanket recording a podcast called Parenting is a Joke. Each week, host and standup Ophira Eisenberg talks to a different comedian about their career and their kids. Conversations tackle the tooth fairy, eating sticks, summer camp anxiety, the hidden horrors of childbirth, and the obvious horrors of our own childhoods. We celebrate the absurdity of shuffling a career with raising a kid, and highlight less traditional parenthood journeys, all while relishing in the fact that no one knows what they're doing, but we're all trying! Sometimes even our best. New episodes every Tuesday. New Season October 1st.

Parenting is a Joke

Comedian Julia Scotti joins Ophira Eisenberg to talk about the long, winding path that brought her back to stand-up after transitioning and a decade away from comedy. Julia reflects on raising three children amid multiple marriages and constant touring, her fear of repeating her own fractured childhood, and the painful 14-year estrangement from her kids after she came out as transgender. She recalls coming out mid-set at a blue-collar Pennsylvania club and later to 13 million people on America’s Got Talent, joking that she wanted to be judged “on the act, not the anatomy.” Julia also describes how teaching special education students during that period filled the hole left by her kids’ absence—including a harrowing day during 9/11 when she nearly took her own life. The conversation touches on old stand-up footage where she mocked trans people before understanding her identity, her love of Louis Prima singalongs with her son, and the two corny jokes she first told him from his crib. The episode ends on a warm note as Julia admits she “unleashed the Kraken” by raising another comedy lover.

📍November Shows are in Philadelphia, PA, Boston, MA, Westchester, NY and November 9th new Standup Special Taping at The Comedy Cellar in NY!

Details at https://www.ophiraeisenberg.comCome to the Taping at the Comedy Cellar on Sun Nov 9th! 5pm: https://www.comedycellar.com/reservations-newyork/?showid=1762725600 7pm: https://www.comedycellar.com/reservations-newyork/?showid=1762732860

Follow Julia Scotti : https://www.instagram.com/juliasscotticomedy

See Ophira LIVE: https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com/events/

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https://www.instagram.com/parentingisajoke/

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https://www.tiktok.com/@ophiranyc

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Julia Scotti Wins The Nobel Prize for Comedy

In this episode of Parenting Is a Joke, Andy Richter joins Ophira Eisenberg to talk about raising three kids across two generations—his 23-year-old son, 18-year-old daughter, and a four-year-old he’s helping raise with his new wife. Andy reflects on how parenting feels different now that he’s happier, newly remarried, and out of a long stretch of depression. He shares how his youngest daughter “runs the household,” including her silent-scream protest when he put her to bed, and how he navigates parenting alongside a Disney-obsessed extended family where his sister-in-law once played Jasmine at Disneyland. Andy contrasts his own self-reliant, latchkey childhood with the more protected upbringing of his older kids and admits he sometimes overcorrected by doing too much for them. He describes the uneasy balance of using personal material in comedy—recalling the “divorced dad” jokes he deleted from Twitter—and the line between honesty and oversharing, both online and in family life. Through it all, his warmth and humor shine, whether he’s talking about his son’s Uber Eats job, his daughter’s bedtime negotiations, or his hope that one day his kids will want to work with him the way Robert Altman’s children did—with love strong enough to last sixteen hours on set.

📍November Shows are in Philadelphia, PA, Boston, MA, Westchester, NY and November 9th new Standup Special Taping at The Comedy Cellar in NY!

Details at https://www.ophiraeisenberg.comCome to the Taping at the Comedy Cellar on Sun Nov 9th! 5pm: https://www.comedycellar.com/reservations-newyork/?showid=1762725600 7pm: https://www.comedycellar.com/reservations-newyork/?showid=1762732860

Follow Andy Richter : https://www.instagram.com/richtercommaandy/

See Ophira LIVE: https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com/events/

SUBSCRIBE so you never miss O thing: https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com/sign-up

Follow PIAJ: 

https://www.instagram.com/parentingisajoke/

https://parentingisajoke.substack.com/

 

Follow Ophira:

https://www.instagram.com/ophirae/

https://www.facebook.com/OphiraEisenberg/

https://www.tiktok.com/@ophiranyc

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https://www.instagram.com/marylynnrajskub/?hl=en
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Andy Richter Redefines Modern Dad

In this Parenting Is a Joke snack episode, Ophira Eisenberg chats again with Kate Auletta, Editor-in-Chief of Scary Mommy and Romper, about her years as a journalist and the surprising turns that led her from travel writing to parenting media. Kate recalls running HuffPost’s “How to Raise a Kid” conference in 2017—pulling together experts to talk about money, race, sex, and digital literacy right as the Trump era began—and how it felt like a bright moment of optimism and connection before online discourse hardened. She and Ophira laugh about trolls who argue over sunscreen recipes and how parenting pieces, no matter how harmless, seem to ignite fury. Kate shares that her most viral post, written during the early pandemic, was simply a plea for parents to “give yourself grace,” while health content still draws the fiercest backlash. The conversation shifts to travel—her love for St. Barts (despite how un–kid-friendly it proved), the Costa Rican jungle cot that scarred her for life, and a vomit-filled night at a roadside hotel near the Basketball Hall of Fame. She swears by headphone adapters as her most vital travel gear, while her husband lugs an entire backpack of snacks. The episode ends, fittingly, with her dog Franklin barking in the background, signaling that even editors-in-chief can’t escape the soundscape of parenting.

📍November Shows are in Philadelphia, PA, Boston, MA, Westchester, NY and November 9th new Standup Special Taping at The Comedy Cellar in NY!

Details at https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com

Come to the Taping at the Comedy Cellar on Sun Nov 9th! 

5pm: https://www.comedycellar.com/reservations-newyork/?showid=1762725600

7pm: https://www.comedycellar.com/reservations-newyork/?showid=1762732860

Follow Kate Auletta : https://www.instagram.com/spottedbykate/

See Ophira LIVE: https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com/events/

SUBSCRIBE so you never miss O thing: https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com/sign-up

Follow PIAJ: 

https://www.instagram.com/parentingisajoke/

https://parentingisajoke.substack.com/

 

Follow Ophira:

https://www.instagram.com/ophirae/

https://www.facebook.com/OphiraEisenberg/

https://www.tiktok.com/@ophiranyc

Learn more about your ad choices. 

Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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From Travel Editor to Scary Mommy with Kate Auletta

In this episode of Parenting is a Joke, Ophira talks with Kate Auletta, Editor-in-Chief of Scary Mommy and Romper, about raising two sons in the suburbs after growing up as a “true East Side” New Yorker. Kate shares how her mornings start with Picture Day chaos, a barking dog, and kids who quiz her about world politics before breakfast. She describes her nine-year-old as a relentless question machine and her older son as a newly minted golf enthusiast—“a full-on suburb kid.” The conversation covers everything from navigating kids’ sports and body image to Kate’s viral essay about keeping a “naked house,” which she defends as a way to model body confidence and normalcy. She also recalls how explaining the meaning of “69” abruptly ended her sons’ giggle fits and how she recently schooled her tween on SEO after he assumed Google’s top search result meant “best.” The two moms bond over C-section scars, endless school breaks, and the unspoken exhaustion of early mornings. The episode ends on Kate’s wry admission that she’s still clinging to the pool on Labor Day, refusing to surrender summer to Maysember.

📍November Shows are in Philadelphia, PA, Boston, MA, Westchester, NY and November 9th new Standup Special Taping at The Comedy Cellar in NY!

Details at https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com

Come to the Taping at the Comedy Cellar on Sun Nov 9th!

5pm: https://www.comedycellar.com/reservations-newyork/?showid=1762725600

7pm: https://www.comedycellar.com/reservations-newyork/?showid=1762732860

Follow Kate Auletta : https://www.instagram.com/spottedbykate/

See Ophira LIVE: https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com/events/

SUBSCRIBE so you never miss O thing: https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com/sign-up

Follow PIAJ: 

https://www.instagram.com/parentingisajoke/

https://parentingisajoke.substack.com/

 

Follow Ophira:

https://www.instagram.com/ophirae/

https://www.facebook.com/OphiraEisenberg/

https://www.tiktok.com/@ophiranyc

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://www.instagram.com/marylynnrajskub/?hl=en

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Kate Auletta Makes Peace with Growing Kids and Growing Older

In this Halloween “snack” episode, Ophira Eisenberg reconnects with horror writer and fellow Brooklyn parent Brooke Mackenzie to dig deeper into her psychic and supernatural experiences. Brooke explains that she once asked “the powers that be” to remove her ability to see ghosts through deep meditation—but kept one lingering gift: premonition dreams that sometimes predict people’s deaths, a trait she says runs in her family. She recalls her one-year-old daughter giggling at an empty rocking chair and saying “Papa,” suggesting that the connection might continue in the next generation. The two trade stories about Halloween costumes and stolen stoop decorations before diving into Brooke’s past involvement with Wicca, her vast crystal collection (so large her husband gives her a “quota”), and how she uses crystals for rituals—including fertility and protection rituals aided by quartz, selenite, and Herkimer diamonds. Brooke describes working as a tutor, balancing motherhood with writing horror, and how she still fears demons, exorcisms, and her own mortality. She swears she’ll never touch a Ouija board again after one terrifying encounter that ended with a shop owner insisting it be stored in a freezer. The conversation wraps on a lighter note about pillowcase trick-or-treating and Brooke’s hopes to publish children’s books someday—just maybe with a crystal or two close by for good juju.

📍October Shows are in Bozeman, MT, WI, MN, MO and November 9th new Standup Special Taping at The Comedy Cellar in NY!

Details at https://www.ophiraeisenberg.comCome to the Taping at the Comedy Cellar on Sun Nov 9th! 5pm: https://www.comedycellar.com/reservations-newyork/?showid=1762725600 7pm: https://www.comedycellar.com/reservations-newyork/?showid=1762732860

Follow Brooke MacKenzie : https://www.instagram.com/mackbrookepro/

See Ophira LIVE: https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com/events/

SUBSCRIBE so you never miss O thing: https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com/sign-up

Follow PIAJ: 

https://www.instagram.com/parentingisajoke/

https://parentingisajoke.substack.com/

 

Follow Ophira:

https://www.instagram.com/ophirae/

https://www.facebook.com/OphiraEisenberg/

https://www.tiktok.com/@ophiranyc

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://www.instagram.com/marylynnrajskub/?hl=en
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Haunted Houses, Healing Crystals, and Halloween Plans with Brooke MacKenzie

In this Halloween-timed episode, Ophira Eisenberg talks with Brooklyn-based horror author and poet Brooke Mackenzie, who balances writing ghost stories with parenting her five-year-old daughter. Brooke describes her haunted Minnesota childhood home—once owned by a member of the Pillsbury family—complete with a female ghost in the basement and a handsy spirit in an old pony shed. She recounts asking “the powers that be” in college to take away her ability to see ghosts after too many eerie encounters at Sarah Lawrence. Ophira and Brooke trade jokes about “geriatric motherhood,” with Brooke explaining how she had her daughter at 40 after infertility struggles and found calm in later-in-life parenting. She also shares how the pandemic sent her family from Manhattan to a haunted mountain town in Northern California, where she wrote much of her horror fiction. Brooke reveals that her story “The Elevator Game”—inspired by the real-life Eliza Lam mystery—launched her career at 39 and led to her collections Ghost Games and The Scary ABC Diary. They discuss the rise of women in horror, how horror offers catharsis and justice, and how motherhood made her writing darker and more body-focused (“once you’ve had every fluid on you…”). The episode ends with Ophira laughing about diaper blowout memories while Brooke jokes that she now spends more time on beta-fish forums than parenting.

📍October Shows are in Bozeman, MT, WI, MN, MO and November 9th new Standup Special Taping at The Comedy Cellar in NY!

Details at https://www.ophiraeisenberg.comCome to the Taping at the Comedy Cellar on Sun Nov 9th! 5pm: https://www.comedycellar.com/reservations-newyork/?showid=1762725600 7pm: https://www.comedycellar.com/reservations-newyork/?showid=1762732860

Follow Brooke MacKenzie : https://www.instagram.com/mackbrookepro/

See Ophira LIVE: https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com/events/

SUBSCRIBE so you never miss O thing: https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com/sign-up

Follow PIAJ: 

https://www.instagram.com/parentingisajoke/

https://parentingisajoke.substack.com/

 

Follow Ophira:

https://www.instagram.com/ophirae/

https://www.facebook.com/OphiraEisenberg/

https://www.tiktok.com/@ophiranyc

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://www.instagram.com/marylynnrajskub/?hl=en
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brooke MacKenzie Knows The Horrors of Parenting

Actor and comedian Mary Lynn Rajskub joins Ophira Eisenberg to talk about raising her now 18-year-old son while continuing to perform stand-up, act, and write. She recalls being visibly pregnant during her last season on 24, with body doubles and stunts ruined when her belly showed up in the shot. She describes her early comedy experiments with Girls’ Guitar Club—two stand-ups who couldn’t play guitar but turned awkward banter into an act—and later channeled pregnancy and motherhood into her one-woman show Mary Lynn Spreads Her Legs, notorious for a review praising its “mean-spirited” riffs on infanticide and colicky babies. Rajskub laughs about her son’s indifference to her career (“he’s never been to a show”) and his generation’s distance from the service-industry jobs she once held, like mixing ranch dressing at Denny’s or lining up greeting cards as a “Hallmark girl.” She admits that leaving home for late-night sets always felt like dragging herself away from the reward of parental wind-down time, and she jokes about young comics inviting her to midnight podcasts when her bedtime is closer to 8:30. The episode ends with Rajskub savoring the absurd “power” she once felt being trusted to stir ranch dressing at Denny’s—a comic foreshadowing of chasing a laugh on stage.

📍October Shows are in Bozeman, MT, WI, MN, MO and in November new Standup Special Taping at The Comedy Cellar in NY!

Details at https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com

Come to the Taping at the Comedy Cellar on Sun Nov 9th!

5pm: https://www.comedycellar.com/reservations-newyork/?showid=1762725600

7pm: https://www.comedycellar.com/reservations-newyork/?showid=1762732860

Follow Marylynn Rajskub: https://www.instagram.com/marylynnrajskub/

See Ophira LIVE: https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com/events/

SUBSCRIBE so you never miss O thing: https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com/sign-up

Follow PIAJ: 

https://www.instagram.com/parentingisajoke/

https://parentingisajoke.substack.com/

 

Follow Ophira:

https://www.instagram.com/ophirae/

https://www.facebook.com/OphiraEisenberg/

https://www.tiktok.com/@ophiranyc

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://www.instagram.com/marylynnrajskub/?hl=en
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

MaryLynn Rajskub Spreads Her Legs (Again)

Daily Show correspondent Jordan Klepper joins Ophira Eisenberg to talk about raising his two-and-a-half-year-old son, Witt, while juggling a career built on improv, political satire, and late-night comedy. Klepper recalls misjudging the mattress size for his son’s bunk bed—leaving a four-inch gap that could double as future deposition material—and justifying his “safety plan” with a beanbag chair under the danger zone. He rails against the whiplash speed of kids’ TV, admitting Bluey gets a pass while Gabby’s Dollhouse and Cocomelon make him wince, then describes how YouTube ballet performances and Singin’ in the Rain became his family’s slower-paced alternative. Klepper revisits his Kalamazoo math-nerd roots, including the actuarial scientist who tried to sell him on predicting death for insurance companies, before he pivoted to improv and eventually landed at The Daily Show. Now, he applies his correspondent’s interrogative style to parenting—only to be told by his wife to stop cross-examining their toddler at the dinner table. From Amazon-era instant gratification to his son’s invented sneakers-with-springs-and-wheels, Klepper balances surreal political interviews with the even trickier task of convincing Witt to wear a jacket. The episode ends with a new father–son bit: shouting “Dan!” back and forth, lifted from an Alan Partridge sketch that Witt now proudly recycles as their private running gag.

📍October Shows are in Bozeman, MT, WI, MN, MO and in November new Standup Special Taping at The Comedy Cellar in NY!

Details at https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com

Come to the Taping at the Comedy Cellar on Sun Nov 9th! 

5pm: https://www.comedycellar.com/reservations-newyork/?showid=1762725600 

7pm: https://www.comedycellar.com/reservations-newyork/?showid=1762732860

Follow Jordan Klepper: https://www.instagram.com/jordanklepper/

See Ophira LIVE: https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com/events/

SUBSCRIBE so you never miss O thing: https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com/sign-up

Follow PIAJ: 

https://www.instagram.com/parentingisajoke/

https://parentingisajoke.substack.com/

 

Follow Ophira:

https://www.instagram.com/ophirae/

https://www.facebook.com/OphiraEisenberg/

https://www.tiktok.com/@ophiranyc

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jordan Klepper is an Emmy-Award Winning Dad

In this snack episode, comedian Tony Deyo regales Ophira Eisenberg with some of the strangest leaps he’s taken, from auditioning disastrously for Stomp—where his lack of dance skills left him drumming on himself in front of professional dancers—to jumping out of airplanes during Army ROTC, even though the first time he’d ever flown was on the way to jump school. Now a parent, he admits that those risks have given way to new kinds of adventures, like being pressured by his son into riding a 140-foot drop water slide that ripped his swim trunks. Tony talks about how he sets limits, such as refusing to pay $6 for an ice cream bar from a truck, and reflects on the challenges of raising a child alongside an aging dog that required endless vet bills. Though he once feared fatherhood would mark the end of his freedom, he says it’s been the best thing in his life and hopes his son finds work he loves as much as Tony loves comedy. The episode ends with Ophira daring him to perform at his son’s school fundraiser, reminding him that if he can survive a botched Stomp audition and parachuting out of planes, he can handle a PTA crowd.

📍September Shows are in Fairfield, CT, Bloomington & Plainfield IN, Iowa City, IA, and NY!

Details at https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com

Follow Tony Deyo : https://www.instagram.com/tonydeyo/

See Ophira LIVE: https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com/events/

SUBSCRIBE so you never miss O thing: https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com/sign-up

Follow PIAJ: 

https://www.instagram.com/parentingisajoke/

https://parentingisajoke.substack.com/

 

Follow Ophira:

https://www.instagram.com/ophirae/

https://www.facebook.com/OphiraEisenberg/

https://www.tiktok.com/@ophiranyc

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One Kid is The Right Number with Tony Deyo

Comedian Tony Deyo joins Ophira Eisenberg this week to talk about balancing creative work with family life, starting with his strict morning writing routine that often happens next to his son playing video games. He describes raising his now-11-year-old, the youngest in his class, and reflects on being the youngest in school himself. Tony shares the story of meeting his wife in college marching band — he was a drummer, she played clarinet — and riffs on the personalities of every instrument section, from flighty flutists to arrogant trumpeters. He recalls teaching band in Texas, where even tiny towns had million-dollar music programs, and compares it to his son’s current school where he ended up donating a bass drum stand after watching one sit on the floor during a concert. Tony explains how writing marching band shows became the financial bridge that allowed him to leave teaching for comedy, while still supporting his family. He also talks about timing his late-night TV appearances around his son’s birth, pulling back from stand-up during his child’s early years, and now enjoying adventures together like Broadway shows, the Basketball Hall of Fame, and planning a Route 66 road trip. The conversation ends with Ophira marveling at Tony’s son being a true “come with guy,” always ready to say yes to whatever plan his dad dreams up.

📍September Shows are in Fairfield, CT, Bloomington & Plainfield IN, Iowa City, IA, and NY!

Details at https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com

Follow Tony Deyo : https://www.instagram.com/tonydeyo/

Follow Mom’s Unhinged: https://www.instagram.com/momsunhingedcomedy/

See Ophira LIVE: https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com/events/

SUBSCRIBE so you never miss O thing: https://www.ophiraeisenberg.com/sign-up

Follow PIAJ: 

https://www.instagram.com/parentingisajoke/

https://parentingisajoke.substack.com/

 

Follow Ophira:

https://www.instagram.com/ophirae/

https://www.facebook.com/OphiraEisenberg/

https://www.tiktok.com/@ophiranyc

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tony Deyo Wants to Bang A Drum All Day

In this episode of Parenting is a Joke, comedian and brand-new mom Vicky Kuperman joins Ophira Eisenberg just five weeks after giving birth—and no, she didn’t know she wanted kids until recently either. Vicky opens up about pivoting from a life focused solely on comedy to embracing IVF, sharing how her fourth and final covered cycle resulted in her daughter. She reveals she once had a miscarriage during a screening of the Barbie movie (yes, she jokes about it), and reflects on the double standards women face in comedy when tackling darker material. The two comedians swap birth stories—Ophira’s dramatic labor room moment vs. Vicky’s swift C-section where the team was chatting about Sex and the City as her daughter arrived. They also dissect the politics of pregnancy shame, how little anyone warns you about post-op edema, and why a Chanel gift bag might be the Upper East Side’s version of a baby bonus. You get to hear what’s inside that legendary Chanel postpartum bag!
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Vicky Kuperman’s C-Section Came with a Chanel Gift Bag

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